Underestimated Sensation
by NerdyJibbsOreo
Summary: Jack Sloane & Jethro Gibbs, Season 16 tags. Originally a one-shot tag to "Fragments" (16x05), now a series of established tags.
1. Chapter 1

_My first "Slibbs" fic (Jack Sloane & Jethro Gibbs). Most likely just a oneshot, but I'm also not entirely ruling out more. This is just me getting my Slibbs feelings out, since I know the show probably won't ever take the plunge and only ever tease. Anyone who follows me on tumblr or has seen my YouTube video of these two should know how much I adore them. _

_Of course I had to write a tag to "Fragments". Literally, I nearly died when they held hands. I freaked out. These two drive me nearly as crazy as Jibbs._

* * *

The case was over. Ray Jennings was a free man, and old wounds could start to heal.

Gibbs sat at his desk, finishing up paperwork in peace. He had sent his team home twenty minutes ago.

He looked down at his left hand and his mind drifted to the other day when Jack's hand had been in his. He flexed it and held it up, staring at his palm.

He was the one who had grabbed her hand and interlocked their fingers, after she had put her hand on his wrist to comfort him. He hadn't really been thinking about it at the time—it was instinct—natural. When it occurred to him that her hand was in his, it had dulled the sadness he had been feeling, and he was somewhat at a loss for words as he stared at their hands. He felt a ping of happiness and peace sear through him.

And then she had realized and she had sat up and pulled away, putting distance between them.

And then the happiness he had been feeling had been replaced with confusion. He almost felt hurt, even though he had no reason to.

He didn't quite know what to think of them. They were good friends, and at the same time many of their interactions could be defined as _more_ than friends. He knew they had flirted with each other several times in the past year. She'd been to his house a couple of times, where they had eaten steak and enjoyed silence and easy banter. They'd spent time in close quarters in cars together or watching interrogations. They'd certainly spent a lot of time in her office.

She'd even spent the night when he'd watched over that little girl. Granted, she had been in the same room with the girl while he slept in his own down the hall—but he remembered having a harder time falling asleep knowing she was nearby.

She was the one person he had told about Shannon and Kelly, and how he had murdered the man responsible. He hadn't done that with anyone else—not even his closest friends or any of his previous wives.

He put his hand back down on the desk, taking in the wrinkles and popping veins. It was probably best that they remained friends. He was far too old for her. Besides, he needed to quit breaking his own rules.

It was hard though, because he liked her. He'd liked her since the day they met. She was incredibly attractive, she had that stubborn flair that he loved in a woman, and she was pleasant to be around. He knew he was too old for her, but she made him feel younger and he liked that.

He just wasn't sure how she felt about him. She had undeniably flirted with him, she had opened up to him, and she did spend a lot of time with him—but she had also never initiated anything more with him, and she had apparently been uncomfortable even holding hands.

He shook his head slightly, deciding it was pointless to think about any of it. It's not like it was going to do any good.

He heard chatter in the distance and watched as Leon and Jack both emerged from down the hall, walking to the elevator together. They passed by the bullpen, laughing about something. He kept his eyes trained on the file in front of him, listening as the elevator ding sounded.

"You getting on?" Leon asked.

"No, not yet, I need to do something before I leave," she answered.

"Okay then. Have a good night, and drive safe," Leon responded.

"I will, thank you. You too."

He glanced over and saw her kiss Leon on the cheek goodbye. He winced, turning his head back to his desk.

He heard her walk over, seeing her emerge in front of his desk out of the top of his eyes.

"Hey," she greeted.

He looked up into her golden brown eyes, shifting his gaze to the bouncy blonde curls that framed her face and then to her lips.

"Hey," he greeted back.

"I heard about the cranberry muffin."

He averted her eyes and shrugged. Apologizing to Leon had been uncomfortable enough—it wasn't really his thing. Not to mention, he didn't really feel like talking about Leon with her right now.

"You goin' home?" He asked.

"Hm, yeah," she said with a nod. "You?"

He shrugged.

"You okay?" She asked.

"Yeah. Just tired," he replied.

"That means you need to go home," she pointed out.

He smirked, looking up at her and meeting her smile. He nodded as he smiled, conceding that she was right as he stood up and gathered his things.

They walked out of the bullpen and got on the elevator together.

"You've got that look, Gibbs," she said as they stood beside each other, echoing exactly what he'd said to her a couple of days ago.

He smirked.

"You know me so well, Jack," he responded in turn.

He could sense she was edgy about something, like she maybe wanted to talk about something and was trying to prepare herself. Hell, he was on edge. He felt guilty about making her uncomfortable yesterday, and he wasn't sure where they stood.

He felt her hand grab his suddenly, making his mouth open and his eyes dart to their hands and then to her face, feeling completely taken aback. When his eyes met hers she looked panicked and made to pull away her hand, but he held onto it, keeping it secure in his.

He smiled at her, interlinking their fingers, watching her eyes and lips go from hesitant to warm.

The ding sounded and the elevator doors opened, and he glanced out, deciding to go with his gut while he had the chance. Age and rules be damned.

"You wanna come over tonight?" He asked.

He waited for a few seconds while she contemplated him, pulling her bottom lip in between her teeth. She glanced down at their interlinked hands and then looked back up at him, a smile tugging on her lips.

"Company would be nice," she finally responded.

He felt his smile grow wide.

He tugged at her hand a little, pulling her with him as they walked out of the elevator.

"I'm over there," she said, pointing in the opposite direction of where his vehicle was.

"I'm there," he said, indicating with his head.

"I'll be right behind you," she said, giving him a smile.

They released each others hands, and he felt the cool air begin to dry the little amount of sweat that had built on his hand.

When they'd made it to his house he opened the door and held it open for her, following her in.

"Beer?" He asked after he shut the door.

"Yeah."

He motioned for her to sit on the couch before he went into the kitchen and pulled two beers out of the fridge. He popped the tops and came back over, handing one to her before he sat down next to her.

"Forty-eight years," she said, shaking her head in dismay.

He nodded, clenching his jaw. It angered him that a man would let another man spend 48 entire years of his life in prison for something he wasn't even responsible for, all because of the color of his skin.

"He's a saint for forgiving him. I think I probably would have killed him," she mused.

He shook his head in the negative.

"You didn't kill the man responsible for your suffering," he stated.

"I wanted to. I thought about all the ways I could make him suffer more times than I can count," she said.

"You're a good person, Jack," he said, reaching out and squeezing her hand in comfort. "You resisted. You let the law handle it in the end. I didn't have that kind of strength."

She put her beer down on the coffee table and then took his from him, putting his down as well. She turned towards him and put her other hand on top of both of theirs.

"I've read your file. I've heard about all the horrible things you have been through. You have an incredible amount of strength," she said, giving him a serious look.

He dismissed her comment with a shake of his head, pressing his lips together and turning to look away.

She reached up and put her hand on his cheek, turning his head back and making him face her.

"You do," she insisted.

He looked into her warm eyes, feeling like there was too much space between them all of a sudden. His face drifted closer to hers and she met him halfway, turning her head a little, his nose brushing the top of her cheek.

He placed a tentative kiss on her cheek, seeing if she would pull back, and then kissed her cheek again with a little more confidence when she didn't.

He moved his hand onto her cheek, his fingers tangling into her hair as he turned her face, capturing her lips with his for the first time. She deepened the kiss, moving her other hand to his shoulder, pulling him closer as their kissing intensified.

Their lips pulled apart and they took a breath.

"Jack," he sighed, his hand moving down on her neck, brushing his thumb across her throat as he kissed the corner of her mouth.

She straightened up, shifting a bit in order to remove her gray suit coat, tossing it onto the table by the beer. She reached over and tugged at his dark one, and he took the hint and took his off, tossing it onto the floor.

She pulled him back to her, kissing him fiercely, her hand gripping his red polo shirt. He pressed her back into the couch, moving on top of her, feeling her legs spread to give him room.

He focused on the way she smelled, the way her tongue felt against his, the way her hands moved around, keeping him close, tugging at his hair.

They got lost in each other, neither aware of the time passing. He finally pulled back when her hips bucked against his.

"Do you want to have sex?" He asked in between breaths.

He was old enough and experienced enough to not be shy or beat around the bush. He needed to know what she did or didn't want before they went any further.

"Yes," she responded breathlessly.

He nodded and moved his lips down to her neck, lavishing it with his tongue and lips as he let his hand wander down the front of her t-shirt, brushing her breast as he moved it down and put pressure on her hip, eliciting a moan from her as he ground against her.

Despite the fact that his couch was fairly cozy, he knew he didn't want to do this here. He wanted them to have more room, and for her to be comfortable. He also knew he'd feel sore if they ended up falling asleep here too.

He broke apart from her and sat up.

"Come on," he said, grabbing her hand as he stood. "Bed is more comfortable."

* * *

He woke up, turning his head and looking beside him. He smiled as his eyes blinked and adjusted, taking in the sight of her laying beside him, her hair spread over the pillow. She was on her stomach, her head turned away from him, the sheets only halfway up her back.

He stared at the scars there, not even wanting to imagine how painful it would have been. He felt a flare of anger for the man that was responsible.

She had been a little hesitant about taking off her shirt last night, and at first had seemed uncomfortable with ever exposing much of her back to him. It apparently didn't matter that she had shown them to him before, she was self conscious about them. He had done his best to make her forget all about it.

He turned to his side and reached out, gently brushing his hand down the scars. He leaned forward and kissed them, feeling her stir as he gently trailed his lips up to her neck.

"Mm, morning," she said, her voice thick with sleep. She turned onto her side to face him, her eyes drooping and blinking rapidly as she tried to keep them open.

"Mornin'," he greeted, pressing his lips to hers for a quick kiss.

"What time is it?" She asked tiredly, her eyes fluttering closed again.

He glanced at the clock.

"After seven," he answered, admiring the view of her on her side, the sheets only up to her stomach, the rest of her pale, bare skin exposed to him.

He settled back down into the bed and pulled her towards him, rubbing his hand up and down her back as he nestled his face in her neck, breathing her in.

It had been years since he had woken up with a woman in his bed, and even longer since he had felt truly happy about it. He was also more tired than he would like to be—he didn't have the insatiable sexual energy that he used to.

He took a long breath in through his nose, kissing her neck a little, moving the hand on her back down to her hips, relishing the way her body felt against his.

"I'm not sure this was a good idea," she mumbled, opening her eyes and looking at him.

He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Office romance is never a good idea," she clarified.

"Yeah," he agreed, chuckling.

"I was sick of tiptoeing around it though," she said, rubbing her hand down his arm.

She moved closer and nudged him down, shifting on top of him, resting her head against his shoulder. He closed his eyes, brushing one hand through her hair and one down her back, caressing the scars.

After a while she sat up and straddled him, pressing herself against him as she languidly kissed his chest.

"Now that we've crossed the line, may as well enjoy it for all it's worth," she commented against his skin.

"Not as young as I used to be," he warned.

"I think you underestimate both of us, Cowboy," she purred, drawing promising kisses down his chest and naval.

He certainly had.


	2. The Princess Bride

_I guess I've decided this may become a series of tags to episodes or various little glimpses into their relationship. This chapter is a tag to "A Thousand Words" (16x07)._

 _Also, shout-out to my good friend JamJar98 who wrote a brilliant story about Slibbs and The Princess Bride as well (beat me to it!). Make sure to read that one if you haven't yet, it made my feels go through the roof._

* * *

 _Sloane: Anyone can claim to be the Dread Pirate Roberts. I mean, that's the whole point, right?_

 _Gibbs: What?_

 _Sloane: Come on, Gibbs. The Princess Bride?_

 _Gibbs: Yeah. Yeah, I know. It's just been a while._

* * *

Gibbs was pleasantly surprised when he opened the door and saw Jack standing on his doorstep.

"Jack," he greeted, his lip quirking up.

"Gibbs," she returned, smiling and making her way forward without any invitation, brushing past him.

He hadn't invited her over, nor had they made any plans, but he wasn't complaining. He eyed her up and down as she removed her coat and hung it up, noticing that she'd ditched her work attire and was wearing a thin pair of black sweatpants and a light gray t-shirt. He admired the way her sweats hugged her ass, and when she turned around to face him his eyes were drawn to the dip in her v-neck.

She kicked off her shoes and then got closer, giving him a quick peck on the lips. He smiled, putting a hand on her hip.

"You stayin' the night?" He asked, glancing at her casual attire again and her sock covered feet.

"Maybe," she responded airily.

He smirked and lowered his head, about to press his lips against hers again when her next words stopped him.

"Depends on how we're feeling when we finish the movie."

He frowned, his head shooting up to look at her, eyeing her critically.

"Movie?"

She smirked at him and turned away, picking up her purse and pulling a VHS tape out of it.

"It wasn't easy to get this. I had to plea online for anyone in the area who still lives in the past like you and was willing to let me borrow it," she said, holding it out to him.

He took it and groaned the minute he saw the title.

"No," he protested, shoving _The Princess Bride_ back into her hands and turning away.

"Come on," she said, grabbing his hand and stopping him. "You said it's been a while, and I haven't seen it in ages, so I thought we could get a refresher together."

It had been a while.

He remembered Shannon dragging him to see it when it first came out. That was probably a good 30 years ago. He remembered she really enjoyed it, and if she hadn't been sitting beside him he would have made it less than five minutes through.

Years later, Jenny had forced him to watch it with her one night. He didn't recall watching much of it on that viewing—he was pretty sure they were more distracted with each other.

"Please?"

Jack's pleading eyes and her warm hand made him give in.

"Fine," he sighed.

"I knew I could convince you, cowboy."

She flashed a smile and then pulled him behind her into the living room.

He rolled his eyes, not able to hold back a smile at her enthusiasm.

"You willing to make some popcorn?" She asked, bending down and placing the tape by the VCR. "I'll grab some blankets, since I definitely know where those are."

She shot a knowing look at him and he shook his head, chuckling at the remark.

He started on the popcorn while she got the movie ready and grabbed a blanket and a couple of beers.

They sat down beside each other on the couch, and she grabbed the remote and pressed play.

He gulped some beer and got a handful of popcorn as it began. He vaguely remembered the grandfather and grandson in the beginning.

"That day, she was amazed to discover that when he was saying 'As you wish'," Jack muttered with the movie, perfectly in time, "what he meant was, 'I love you.' "

He groaned, almost feeling physical pain. He turned his face to her, raising an eyebrow.

"How many times have you seen this?"

She shrugged.

"A few times..." she answered vaguely, smirking at him. "This came out when I was in college. One of my roommates quoted it constantly."

He found it strange to imagine her in college, especially knowing that he was married with a kid at the time—not to mention 13 years older.

He looked at the screen and cringed, glaring as the couple was suddenly kissing with a sunset behind them. He related to the kid on the screen who was suddenly saying " _hold it_ " and " _what is this_?" Then the kid asked " _when does it get good_?"

"It doesn't," Gibbs muttered.

Jack elbowed his arm.

" _I don't believe this_ ," the kid moaned.

"Neither do I," Gibbs muttered again, smirking as Jack's elbow made more forceful contact.

They both ate more popcorn and drank silently while the movie continued. He chuckled a bit at the conversation on the cliff between the "inconceivable" guy and the Spaniard.

"Abby and Tony mentioned this movie a couple'a times," he mused. "Abby loved it."

"That fits," Jack replied, smiling. "I miss that girl. And I wish I'd met Tony, people mention him all the time. He sounds like he would have been a fun study."

"Definitely," Gibbs replied with a laugh.

He watched with a little more interest when two of the men began a sword fight. He also thought to himself how much quicker it would be if they both had a SIG.

The popcorn bowl was empty by the time the main guy character made the giant pass out and moved on to the short guy's test.

Jack nudged him into the corner of the couch and scooched back in between his legs, resting her back against his chest as she pulled the blanket up over both of them. They readjusted slightly, each getting comfortable against the other. He wrapped an arm around her waist, moving her shirt up a little and resting his fingers against her skin, breathing her in as he pressed a kiss to her head. She rested her hand over his and intertwined their fingers.

"Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line!" Jack quoted with the movie. He smiled as her body shook with laughter against his—the small man falling over dead on the screen—and he decided he was glad that she was making him watch this with her.

* * *

" _And what is that worth, the promise of a woman?"_ the main guy in the movie asked, making Jethro laugh.

"Really?" Jack questioned, shifting a bit so she could glare at him.

"It's a good question," he deadpanned.

"Now I understand your divorce rate."

He smirked, not bothering to deny it.

He felt like the idiotic conversation between the two main characters was taking forever, and as the woman stupidly threw herself down the hill after the man he brutally wished that they would both break their necks and that would be the end of it.

It was too bad he'd seen it before and knew that wouldn't be the case.

He groaned in pain again when the couple embraced at the bottom of the dramatically long hill. The morons should have sustained at least a few broken bones.

"Yeah, they're not the brightest," Jack commented.

The couple began to kiss and the kid in the movie was protesting again. Gibbs decided the kid was his favorite character.

"See, that's what I was talking about earlier," Jack said when the main guy started explaining the whole "Dread Pirate Roberts" thing.

"Like I told you then, I know."

"You didn't sound very convincing."

He glared at her hair.

"Well, now that we've established that, how 'bout we—"

"Nope," she cut him off. "We're watching the whole thing. Besides, we're only halfway."

He let out a resigned sigh, accepting his fate and relaxing into the couch some more.

* * *

"Movies have come a long way," Jack commented as they watched the main guy fight off a gigantic, ugly rat puppet thing.

"Hm," he responded with a nod, not paying much attention to the movie, thinking about work. He absently started to rub his hand up and down the skin on her side, becoming more aware of how she felt against him.

Months ago, he never would have thought that they would be in this position—in fact, he hadn't thought he'd be with another woman for the rest of his life. Dr. Ryan had been the last straw and he'd sworn off women. Now, he was 64 years old, and here he was, with her. He felt blindsided by the way she made him feel, like he was at least fifteen years younger.

She moved a little against him, snuggling closer, stopping his moving hand by holding it. He closed his eyes, resting his nose by the crown of her head, inhaling the subtle scent of her shampoo as he let himself fully relax.

He'd almost drifted completely off when he heard her distant voice, not really registering what she said.

"Inigo's about as stubborn as you."

"Mm," he grunted.

She shifted against him, pulling him more out of his hazy, almost asleep state.

"You're falling asleep."

"Mm-hm."

"You can't fall asleep."

He merely grunted again, keeping his eyes closed.

He felt her shift a little more, feeling her palms rest on his shoulders and her breasts push against his chest. He could sense her face approaching his.

"Gibbs," she whispered in his ear, sending a tingling sensation shooting down his head and neck.

He groaned as her lips closed around his ear lobe and then trailed down his jaw. He was almost annoyed that she'd purposefully ruined his state of peace, but he couldn't deny that he was enjoying the attention she was currently giving him. He couldn't keep his eyes screwed shut anymore and opened them, putting his hands on her face and guiding her jaw to his, kissing her deeply.

They stayed that way for quite a while, enjoying each others lips and hands, the sounds of the movie getting more distant the longer they continued. His breathing had picked up when his lips were on her neck, enjoying the tiny moan that escaped her. He was about five seconds from flipping them over and feeling her beneath him when she suddenly jerked away from him.

"Wait, I love this part," she said, turning around so that her back was against his chest again, her attention back on the movie.

He blinked in surprise, amazed that she could possibly still be paying attention to the movie or even be remotely interested in it. His mind was entirely elsewhere right now.

"Jack," he groaned.

"Shh," she reprimanded.

He glared at her head and closed his eyes for a minute, trying to clear his head.

"Here we go," Jack said. "I love Billy Crystal."

He opened his eyes and watched as the giant and Spaniard talked to some old, grumpy dude, and then carried the main character, who looked dead, into the old guy's house. He had no clue when the giant or Spaniard had shown up in the movie again, nor did he know why the main guy was suddenly dead.

Jack laughed when the old guy lifted up the main guy's arm and dropped it, commenting that he'd "seen worse." No doubt Ducky could say the same. Gibbs debated inwardly if he wanted to attempt to sleep again, since it seemed like she probably wanted to watch the rest of the movie and he didn't understand what was going on nor care.

He watched with a little amusement as the old guy explained the difference between "mostly dead" and "all dead," reminded of Ducky once again.

"Get back, witch!" Jack quoted with the old man as an old lady came in screaming at him.

" _I'm not a witch, I'm your wife!"_ The old woman replied, making Jethro snort with laughter.

"I'm sure you can relate," Jack stated, an amused look on her face as she looked back at him.

"Oh yeah."

* * *

As the movie continued he paid attention to parts and let his mind wander a little at others. He thought of some of the risky undercover ops he had done when the three men hatched a plan to get into the castle, and was also reminded of some conversations he, Tony, and McGee had come up with in the past.

He watched with some interest when the Spaniard guy exacted revenge, thinking about him, Jack, and all the other friends and agents he had known who had exacted revenge on those who had wronged them.

He laughed when the main guy remarked about the "shortage of perfect breasts in the world," and snaked a hand up Jack's shirt, flirting with the edge of her bra before she yanked it back down. He moved his hand to her arm instead and rubbed it up and down in a soothing motion.

He felt relieved when the story was finally wrapped up ten minutes later and the grandpa in the movie closed the book. The credits began to roll and he looked down at Jack, realizing she had drifted off to sleep. He smirked at the sight, shaking his head a little.

"Jack," he whispered, squeezing her hand and shifting a little. "Jack."

Her head jerked and her eyes shot open.

"Movie's over."

She groaned, sitting up and rubbing a hand across her face.

"I can't believe I fell asleep right at the end."

"Looks like you're stayin' the night."

"Only if it's okay with you," she said uncertainly, looking at him.

"More than okay," he answered, giving her a peck on the lips.

He sat forward and planted his feet on the ground, stretching a little and getting his bearings. He stood up and grabbed the remote, pressing the power button.

"Give me a hand?" She asked, looking up at him pitifully as she lay comfortably against the cozy couch.

"As you wish," he mocked, extending his hand to her.

She snorted and rolled her eyes, grabbing his hand and letting him pull her up.

When he got her on her feet he placed a hand on her hip and held her close, brushing his other hand down her hair. He kissed her and then rested his forehead against hers, moving the hand on her hip to the hem of her shirt, rubbing his thumb across the bare skin he found.

"Thanks for watching the movie with me, even though you didn't really want to," she said, putting a hand on his neck and rubbing the other up his chest.

He shrugged his shoulders a little.

"Had good company," he muttered, bumping his nose against hers as he began to kiss her again.

"You even outlasted me in the end," she muttered against his lips.

"It's called stamina," he quipped.

She snorted.

"Hey, I've got a lotta stamina."

"At your age? Inconceivable."

At that he decided to prove her wicked grin wrong. He grabbed her hand and pulled her behind him up the stairs, smiling at the giggles that escaped her.

* * *

 _Yes, I did watch the entire movie while I wrote this. It's been years since I've seen it, and it was nice to get a refresher with Gibbs and Sloane. Let me know if you want more episode tags in this series. Thanks for reading!_


	3. Christmas

_Tag to "What Child is This" (16x10). That cute Slibbs scene made me gush with happiness, so of course I have to do a tag for it. Little bit of fluff and a fair amount of dialogue. Includes a dash of Ellick and a tiny Jibbs mention. I also mention Nick and Ellie's ages in this, and I just went off of the age that their actors are. I have no idea what age their characters are supposed to be, so don't sacrifice me if I'm completely wrong._

 _I realize I am not the first, nor will I be the last, to do a tag to this episode and this scene. I've loved the couple I've read so far, and I look forward to seeing the other ones and interpretations that people will inevitably write._

 _Anyways, enough rambling. Here is to hoping when the series comes back in January that Jack and Gibbs decided to get together after their night of drinking good bourbon on Christmas._

* * *

Jack bumped her shoulder against Gibbs' arm.

"Merry Christmas, Gibbs."

"Merry Christmas to you, Jack," he replied, turning to look at her as he leaned against the car.

He stared at her for a few seconds, taking in the smile on her face as she watched Ellie and Nick across the street.

"Still going skiing?" he asked.

"It's a little late now."

She turned to face him.

"Why? You got a better plan?" she asked, poking him in the chest playfully.

"I was just thinkin' about that gift bottle you gave out."

"Kentucky's finest."

"Oh."

"Small batch."

He met her smile with his own.

"I want to crack that. You in?" he asked.

She felt her heart flutter at the smile on his face, and she knew he was talking about more than just cracking open a bottle of bourbon. She nodded, agreeing to both the spoken and unspoken plan. It had been a while since they'd spent any quality time together.

He leaned towards her and she reflexively lifted her folded hands up, blocking her mouth. She didn't want to chance him trying to plant one on her when Ellie and Nick were nearby.

He kissed her on the forehead and pulled back, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and pulling her close against his side, resting his chin against the side of her head.

They both smiled, enjoying each others warmth as they watched Ellie and Nick finally say goodbye to the parents and baby and walk back over. Jack shifted a little, trying to pull away from him, but he kept his arm tight around her. She was glad the other two were so typically entranced with each other that they hadn't noticed them yet.

She cleared her throat and Gibbs reluctantly gave her one last squeeze before releasing her.

* * *

After they all went back to the office they parted ways for their Christmas destinations. Jack smiled as she saw Nick and Ellie get in the elevator together, wondering if they were going somewhere together. She wondered in that moment what exactly they were to each other. Everyone else knew how completely into each other they were, but did they? Either they were both completely stupid, or they were currently in a secret relationship outside of the office, just like she and Gibbs.

She followed Gibbs to his house, listening to Christmas music on the way. When they got there he held the door open for her and followed her inside, where both of them hung up their coats.

He pulled her towards him and looked at her, giving her a smile.

"Been a while," he commented, resting his hand on her cheek.

She hummed in agreement, eyes fluttering at the feel of his thumb brushing across her cheek.

"Glad you came over."

He leaned forward and gave her a slow kiss.

He'd missed her. They saw each other at the office frequently and occasionally flirted or hung out in the privacy of her office. They hadn't actually spent much time outside of the office together over the last few weeks though. She had come over for the night a week or so ago after the case with Angie had been solved, but they hadn't done anything since then.

Their relationship could definitely be defined as casual to outsiders, but to them it was more a sense of unspoken understanding. He knew she wasn't comfortable with anything serious right now, and he'd been through too many rushed relationships to feel any sense of pressure to do so with this one. All he really knew was that he enjoyed her company, and she seemed to enjoy his, and that was enough for now. In a sense, they were friends. Yet at the same time, clearly they were more than that.

"So, where did you put that bottle?" she asked as she pulled apart from him.

"Basement."

"Let's get it and start the holiday cheer then."

They headed to the basement, where Jack glanced at the boat while Gibbs grabbed the shiny, new, ribbon adorned bottle that was sitting on the dusty shelf. He came up to her with the bottle in hand, raising an eyebrow at her when she didn't move.

"Do you wanna drink down here, work on this?" she asked, gesturing to the boat.

"Nah," he grunted, shaking his head. "More comfortable upstairs. Less dusty. We could get a fire goin', sit on the couch."

"You sure? I've heard you like drinking with your boat."

"Not when I got a pretty lady in the house," he replied smoothly

She laughed, smiling at his handsome grin. He reached out with his free hand and grabbed hers, guiding her up the stairs behind him.

She grabbed a couple of glasses while he started a fire. They sat down on the couch together and he cracked the bottle open, pouring them each a small amount. They each took a sip, savoring the quality and smooth taste.

"You think Nick and Ellie are together?" she asked.

"All I know is I can't take much more of their flirtin' in the bullpen."

She laughed.

"You getting rid of that rule I've heard about? The one about not dating co-workers?"

"I'm not followin' it right now. Didn't work with the pair of agents I had before them either."

They each took another sip, Jack still thinking about Ellie and Nick. They'd been asleep together on the very couch she and Gibbs were sitting on right now, and it had been a rather cute sight while she had played with the baby.

"They'd make good parents," she commented.

He gave her a look, alarmed at the idea of them having a kid together.

"Still kids themselves," he said with a snort.

"Kids?" she she said with a laugh. "Ellie's thirty-four, Nick is thirty-eight. Hardly kids."

He shrugged and she rolled her eyes at him.

"Ellie deserves someone special," he commented.

"Nick is special, in a certain way," she said with a chuckle. "In your eyes no one will be good enough for her. I've seen the way you treat her, like a daughter."

"She's a good kid. Been through a lot."

They lapsed into comfortable silence while he stroked the back of her hand absentmindedly with his finger.

She looked up at the tree, taking in the ornaments, the old ones that clearly had been around during Shannon and Kelly's time. She could make out Kelly's name on a couple of them.

"How old were you when you had Kelly?"

He looked at her, unprepared for the sudden question about his daughter. Her expression was soft, and he didn't see any harm in talking about it. She was, after all, the only person he had ever willingly opened up to about it.

"Thirty."

He swallowed hard, thinking about how much time had passed.

"She'd be thirty-four now," he added hoarsely.

Jack looked at him, the pain in his voice making her heart ache for him. So that was why he had such a special relationship with Ellie. She was the same age his daughter would be. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it in comfort.

"That's why almost losing Ellie the other day shook you up so much," she said quietly.

He gave a stiff nod, looking haunted.

"Lost too many people. People I cared about. Can't handle losin' any more."

Flashes of his loved ones shot through his mind as he emptied his glass and put it down. His mom, Shannon, Kelly, Kate, Jen, Mike, Ziver, his dad. All of the countless agents he'd worked with, like Pacci, Decker, Morrow, Dorneget, and Reeves.

Jack understood how he felt. Goodness knows she'd been through her fair share of losing people. She knew from experience that there really wasn't any source of actual comfort. Those kinds of painful scars never healed fully, they just got less painful and easier to ignore as time went on.

She put her drink down and scooted closer into his side, letting him know that she was there for him. She reached up and began to rub her hand across his neck and the back of his head, playing with his hair and massaging his scalp.

He closed his eyes and relaxed more, letting out a pleased grunt at the feeling of her fingers. He sunk down further and stretched his legs out in front of him so that she could reach more easily.

She continued her ministrations for a few minutes, enjoying the relaxed look on his face while she listened to the fire crackling in the background.

"You were good with that baby," he commented suddenly, his eyes still closed.

She paused, amused by the comment.

"I like babies. They're cute. You didn't even touch him."

He opened up an eye and looked up at her, not missing the accusatory sound in her voice.

"I like babies too."

She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Didn't wanna get attached," he mumbled.

"Aw," she crooned, smiling at him.

He glared at her, hoping to ward off any teasing. He closed his eyes and relaxed again as she continued her massage. He thought about that one Christmas Eve years ago, when the lady they were working with on a case went into labor, and Ziva had to defend them.

"Delivered a baby on Christmas Eve one time."

"What?" she asked, her hand faltering again, stunned by the revelation.

"Yeah. Pregnant lady in our case went into labor. We were stranded at a gas station. My agent, Ziva, had to hold down the fort and defend us, while I ended up delivering a baby in a car."

"Wow...that's definitely an experience. How'd it go?"

"Good, I guess. Baby was fine, mother was fine. Never delivered a baby before, so I was a little outta my element. Was a pretty cute baby."

He paused, thinking about how nerve-wracking it had been at the time.

"Never want to experience it again, though," he added darkly.

Jack chuckled, inwardly finding the idea of Gibbs delivering a baby to be strangely attractive—not to mention hilarious. She also wondered if she'd ever even get near the bottom of the barrel when it came to getting to know him. He'd done and experienced so many things. She really hardly knew him. Then again, he still didn't know tons about her either.

"You sure that's why you didn't want to hold the baby? Still a little scarred over having to deliver one in the middle of nowhere?"

He chuckled in response, opening his eyes to look at her. He reached out and began to rub her thigh. He couldn't get the image of her talking to the mother of the baby earlier that day out of his head—the way she seemed to know what she was talking about, how she was able to assure the mother. _"Because I know,"_ she had said.

"Did you ever want kids?" he probed.

The question threw her for a loop and she looked at him in surprise. She tried to remain calm and not alert him. She wasn't ready to talk to him about that part of her past, yet.

"I thought about it. Job kept me busy though, never found the right man either." She shrugged. "You didn't want any kids with your ex-wives?" she asked, turning it on him.

He snorted.

"Nope."

Diane had wanted one near the end, but he didn't. He was still raw from losing Kelly at the time. Rebecca had been adamant from the start that she never wanted kids, and that assurance had been a nice relief during their marriage. Stephanie and him didn't last long enough to even consider it.

Flashes of a certain fiery redhead went through his mind.

"There was only one woman I would've considered it with, but I let her slip through my fingers."

Jack nodded, once again thinking about how much history he had. Four marriages and more relationships on top of that that, which all fell through the cracks.

He was damaged, but so was she.

"Well, guess it doesn't matter. That stage of life is definitely behind both of us now," she said, smiling tightly, the image of a blonde girl named Faith floating in the back of her mind.

He looked up at her, seeing that the smile on her lips didn't match the look in her eyes. _"More than anything else, I know that."_

"Jack."

"Mm?"

"Earlier, when we were talkin' to that mom...you seemed to know what you were talkin' about."

She had hoped he wouldn't bring this up. She knew she'd probably said too much during that conversation, that he'd probably picked up on some things.

"It's my job to understand how people work," she evaded.

He looked at her, and she could tell he didn't believe her. She started to feel tense, hoping he'd just drop it.

"Jack—" he started, stopping when he saw her expression change. He could see pain in her eyes, and he could tell that him prodding about it was only going to make their night end badly. He wanted to know, he wanted to ask if she had a kid that she'd given up for adoption—but the look in her eyes told him she wasn't ready to talk about it.

After so many years of relationships gone sour, he'd learned that it was pointless to push about things that people didn't want to discuss. He would have to give her time, like everyone else had given him for so long. He didn't want to damage their relationship.

"—Merry Christmas," he finished instead, squeezing her thigh.

She blinked, surprised that he'd actually dropped it. She could tell he was holding back, and for that, she was appreciative.

"Thank you," she whispered, moving her hand over his and squeezing it.

She leaned close and gave him a kiss, drawing it out as she rested her hand against his cheek. She pulled back when he tried to deepen it, smirking at him as she got off the couch, narrowly avoiding his arm that darted out to try and keep her there.

"Bourbon is good and all, but I think I'm gonna make some hot cocoa. You want any?" she asked.

He grimaced.

"No."

"Come on, Gibbs. It's Christmas," she protested as she walked into the kitchen.

She rummaged around the cupboards, finding an old container of cocoa powder, an aged bottle of vanilla extract, and a bag of sugar. She shook her head at the old ingredients and the fact that his kitchen wasn't ever stocked with much. She put the ingredients down on the counter and then looked around to find a pot.

She felt a pair of arms snake around her waist and felt his breath by her ear. She couldn't hold back a smile.

"You decide you want some cocoa after all?"

"No. Not cocoa I want. Bourbon either," he muttered.

She felt him pull down her turtle neck and felt his lips take advantage of the exposed skin, making goosebumps erupt on her arm. She relaxed against him, resting the back of her head against his shoulder.

"Glad I didn't go skiing," she sighed.

He smiled into her neck, more than glad that she had decided to stay.

It was shaping up to be a pretty great Christmas for both of them, and neither could deny it was because they had each other.

* * *

 _Hope you all have a very merry Christmas! Thank you for your continual support, I can't express how much I appreciate it._

 _Much love,_

 _~Oreo (aka FromStoneToHallows)_


	4. The Last Link

_Work is making it hard for me to have any mental energy to write lately. I apologize if this has any mistakes or doesn't make sense or is dreadfully boring. This is a tag to "The Last Link" (16x12). Wasn't that scene between Gibbs and Jack adorable? My heart was pounding so hard. They are so flipping cute together, I can't even. I feel like the anticipation of waiting to see if they will actually happen in canon or not is going to kill me over the next few months. The show is always such a tease when it comes to potential relationships._

* * *

Gibbs approached the bullpen, inwardly groaning when he realized Jack was talking to Mr. Sydney. He heard part of their conversation, wondering just how many embarrassing stories Mr. Sydney had told her.

"So what happened when spring rolled around?" Jack asked the old man.

"He doesn't know," Gibbs bit out as he made his way to his desk and picked up his phone. It didn't matter that more than 50 years had passed, he still remembered how that crushing disappointment had felt.

"No, I-I-I wasn't around, but...I'll bet you won a few games," the other man replied as he stood up and looked at Gibbs.

Gibbs didn't reply as he stared back at him, feeling the betrayal from his childhood cut a little deeper.

"Are you ready to go?" the other man asked.

"Go?"

"Uh...John, like I said," Jack said, "Gibbs won't leave in the middle of a case."

"Well, do it for LJ. Do it for your dad. They made a promise. A mans only as good as his word."

Gibbs moved the end of the phone from his mouth, giving the other man a questioning look, about five seconds from calling him a hypocrite. If he'd kept his promise back in the day, he would have seen what happened when spring rolled around, and how far Gibbs' curve ball had come.

"Come on. Get your ass in my car."

Gibbs was thrown off by the demand, barely hearing the man bid his goodbye to Jack through the pounding that began in his ears. _At least the man had learned to say some kind of goodbye before he left places now_ , Gibbs thought bitterly. He ended the call and put the phone back down into the receiver, sensing Jack move closer.

"Hey," she said as she reached his side, her hand brushing his elbow, giving him a small smile. "We can handle things here. He looked at her, feeling his irritation ebb away. "Torres and McGee are out retracing the lieutenant's footsteps."

He gave a sigh and looked forward, still annoyed by the circumstances, not feeling like a road trip to his old hometown with a man who had abandoned him.

"You'll be back before they're done," she reassured, and he registered the hand she had placed for a moment on his chest. He looked down as the hand left, and then looked into her face again, taking in the soft lips he took for granted, and the curls that framed her face that he loved to tangle his fingers in when he did take advantage of kissing her—and those soft, brown eyes…eyes that didn't fail to calm him during the bad times.

He felt a rush of peace, knowing that she was there, knowing that she cared enough that she wouldn't lead him astray. He knew she was right.

He also knew he was suddenly wishing they were alone in his house, wishing he could tangle his fingers in her hair and kiss those lips right now—unfortunately, they were at the office—and he could tell Jack had also just heard the rolling sound of a chair that meant Ellie had just sat back down at her desk behind him. He could feel Bishop glancing at them.

They both looked away from each other, and he made a mental note to enjoy their alone time as soon as they were able. He turned and grabbed his coat and then pushed his chair away from his desk drawer so he could retrieve his gun.

"Bishop," he said as he walked out from his desk, avoiding eye contact with both of the women, feeling almost embarrassed, "McGee's got lead." He knew if he made eye contact with Ellie he'd feel awkward wondering how much she had seen or how much she suspected. He didn't want to make eye contact with Jack because Ellie was there watching, and he knew he would give Jack some stupid grin, and perhaps even lose his senses and give her a goodbye kiss.

He made his way over to Mr. Sydney, grateful for the dose of calmness Jack had given him.

* * *

Jack lay on top of him, her face buried in his neck as she held onto him, while he brushed his hand through her hair, both of them catching their breath. He felt her shiver a little and he blindly reached out and located the duvet with his fingers, pulling it up over them.

He tilted his head and nuzzled her slightly damp hair, inhaling her scent. He placed a kiss to her head, feeling her kiss his neck in return. She adjusted a little on top of him as she moved her head to look at him, giving him a hazy smile. He grinned back, reaching out with his hand and cupping her cheek, caressing her lips with his thumb. She placed her hand over his and grabbed his palm, placing a kiss to it.

"Take it you missed me?" he asked with a smirk, thinking about how she'd shown up at his door the minute she'd found out John had left and practically attacked him.

"Hm, maybe a little," she replied, scooching up a bit to give him a slow kiss.

It dawned on him just how comfortable they were. Sometimes they could go almost a whole week without hardly seeing each other and not be bothered, because they were both busy with work and tired and understood how that went. Other times, he found himself visiting her office during work even though he really didn't need to, or she would be in his house almost more than he was.

"I think Ellie's suspicious of us now," Jack commented with a laugh. "She kept giving me these looks while you were gone."

"Probably is. Gonna happen when you grope me in the bullpen."

"I did not 'grope you'!"

He laughed while she glared at him.

"I didn't realize she was walking in," she added defensively.

"I know, I'm just teasin' ya. I didn't realize until she sat down either."

"What happened to the eyes on the back of your head?"

"Only thing my eyes were focused on was you."

He felt her stiffen for a moment before she looked into his eyes searchingly, as if she couldn't quite believe what he had said. Her lip twitched up into a smile, and the warmth radiating from her eyes sent a surge of happiness into his heart. She stroked his face and then kissed him again before burying her face back into his neck, her hand moving up and down his chest in a soothing manner.

"That was smooth," she said.

He didn't say anything. He hadn't really meant to say something that sounded like a cheesy line—it had just slipped out. She had been distracting him in the bullpen, though. The mere touch of her hand and the gentle look on her face had left him almost defenseless.

"I always wonder when Leon will actually ask," she said. "I get the sense he knows...maybe he's just waiting for one of us to say something."

Gibbs nodded in agreement.

He thought about how he'd been a little jealous when he used to see Jack and Leon interact. He had wondered at first what the history behind their relationship was, and if either of them had any romantic interest in the other one. It took him until Jack told him about her imprisonment and rescue that he finally realized the true nature of their relationship.

He found himself frequently and silently grateful to Leon these days. He knew Jack wasn't the only one who would feel eternally indebted to the man. He never thought he'd feel like he owed Leon anything, but now that Jack was in his life…

He may have been a little ticked when Leon first brought Jack on as an employee. It had been the same when Jenny had brought Ziva on without consulting him. In both situations, he had been completely wrong, and had no idea just what kind of impact those women would have on his life. _Rule 51_ , he thought to himself, smirking lightly.

Jack readjusted, shifting off of him and cuddling up to his side, resting her head on his shoulder. He put his arm around her, keeping her warmth close as he absentmindedly brushed his fingers up and down her arm. She grabbed his wrist and stroked her thumb across the empty stretch where his father's bracelet used to be, which was now in the basement with the other bracelets.

"It's so sweet—meaningful," she said.

He tilted his head to look at her and raised an eyebrow in question.

"The bracelets, the whole pact...being buried with them." He noted her voice change with emotion. "I understand it, wanting to be with your team. It's like—" she cut off, her voice catching.

He watched her eyes moisten and he tightened his arm around her, feeling like he knew what she was thinking about.

"—like the patches," she finished with a shaky voice.

She'd told him about the Wingos patches. She told him about how she had buried the box by their graves. He knew he could never fully understand the emotional and mental torment that the entire situation still had on her. He knew what it was like to be held captive and tortured...but nowhere near to the extent that she had suffered.

She took a breath, composing herself while he continued to hold her and draw soothing patterns on her skin. He pressed a kiss to her head, knowing there were no real words of comfort he could give her.

"I didn't thank you," he said, breaking the silence and changing the subject.

"For what?" she asked, looking up at him in confusion.

"For convincin' me to go with John."

"It seemed like you two had some things to sort out."

"Yeah."

"I'm glad the hours of driving and being alone together got you both to talk and sort it out," she said, a smile flickering on her face. "I know talking isn't your thing."

He chuckled.

"What happened between you two?"

He thought for a second, the hazy memories from that part of his childhood emerging in his head.

"He left...didn't say goodbye," he finally answered in a hushed tone, feeling her fingers idly play with his chest hair.

"It's amazing how long things that happened during our childhood can stick with us. How they can still affect us mentally and even influence our decisions."

He nodded and then looked down at her.

"You got things that still bother you from your childhood?" he asked.

She thought for a minute before a mischievous glint went through her eyes.

"I remember having this crush on one of my teachers when I was a little girl. He was probably a good 20 years older than me. Must have had an impact on my future taste in men, considering..." she trailed off, pulling his chest hair playfully.

"Hey," he protested, glaring at her.

"What? That should make you happy. He could be the reason we're together."

"Nope."

"No? How do you know?"

He rolled and shifted on top of her, using his arms to keep his full weight off of her.

"Not the reason," he whispered, watching her eyes darken.

"You're sure about that, huh?" she replied, reaching up and caressing his neck.

He nodded confidently.

"What, you think it's your looks or something?"

He smirked and lowered his head, nipping her ear.

"Deeper than my devilish good looks," he mumbled in her ear, feeling a shiver run through her, moving his lips down her jaw and to her neck, feeling her carotid artery beat a little faster. He moved his lips up to hers and they kissed languidly.

He nuzzled her nose with his before settling back down beside her, knowing they were both too tired for much else.

"Devilish?" she questioned with a laugh.

He shrugged, smirking again.

She rested her head on his shoulder and rubbed her hand down his chest.

"I guess that's pretty close to the truth," she said, yawning as she reached the end of the sentence. "Not just the part about your looks...it is deeper."

He looked down to see her eyes closed as she cuddled against him. He smiled, wrapping his arm around her and brushing his fingers down the ends of her hair as he closed his own eyes.

"Jack?" He whispered.

"Hm?"

"I missed you too."


	5. Valentines

_So this is a tag to "She" (16x13), but it isn't entirely, it's also a Valentines Day shot. I debated making it it's own one-shot, but eh, I figured I may as well just keep it in with the theme I have going on in this series. Sorry this is late for Valentines, my job demands most of my time and energy. Anyways, hope you are all doing well, thank you for your continual support. I loved "She" so freaking much, as I'm sure many of you did. Hopefully this can help with the complete lack of Slibbs that was in the episode. It looks like we may have some in the next episode, so that's exciting!_

* * *

She stirred, waking when she felt someone nudge her. The press of lips against her forehead made her smile, and she opened her eyes to see Jethro leaning down by her bed, his hand on her shoulder.

"What are you doing here?" she asked sleepily.

He had wanted space after their last case, which dredged up memories of his dead agent, Ziva David. He hadn't talked to her at all during the case, and during their extremely brief encounters she could tell he was having a hard time. He had pretty much dropped off the planet the second the case was over without ever seeing her, and so she stayed away and gave him the solitude he clearly needed.

His lip quirked up in a smile and she swore she could see a blush. He held up a rose.

"Happy Valentines," he said with a shrug.

"Aw," she said, feeling her heart lift. She hadn't even realized what the date was. She sat up and took the rose from him, admiring it, blaming the fact she felt suddenly emotional on the fact that she was tired and still in a groggy state from being woken up. She looked up from the rose to him, finding the definite blush on his face to be quite cute.

"Thank you," she said, trying to keep her voice level, taking in a breath to further prevent herself from being unnecessarily emotional. She felt like a sap.

"Rest of the flowers are in your kitchen. Brought breakfast too," he said gruffly.

"You really didn't have to," she said, feeling like her face could split from her smile.

He shrugged and avoided her gaze.

"And here I thought you wouldn't be the kind of guy to like sappy holidays like Valentines."

"I don't. I like you, Jack."

She almost didn't know how to react to that, but she was pretty sure her heart had the chance to melt if it wanted. She took his hand in hers and tugged him closer, giving him a kiss. When their lips parted he stood up and pulled her up out of bed, pressing her against him and giving her another kiss.

"You even finally used the key I gave you," she muttered, brushing her thumb against his cheek.

"Nah, I'm just real good at pickin' locks," he deadpanned.

It took her a second to realize he was joking and she rolled her eyes as he smirked at her.

They went into her kitchen, where she saw the rest of the roses sitting on the table, along with a huge red heart shaped box of chocolates. A couple paper bags from the diner he liked were there too.

"You really went all out. I know it's Valentines, but you sure there isn't some other reason for all this?" she teased.

When he was silent she looked at him, feeling unnerved by how serious he seemed all of a sudden.

"Jethro?"

"I know I've been shuttin' you out the last few days. Needed to think."

She nodded and took his hand, waiting for him to look at her.

"I understand. Believe me."

She had needed her own space too. After being with Lily during that case, and opening up to her about her daughter...she'd needed some time to grieve and process as well.

She squeezed his hand and then went to the cupboards to grab a vase and a couple of plates. She heard him begin to rustle around in the bags. When she came back she put the flowers in the vase while he began to dish them portions of the breakfast foods.

He sat down and she moved a chair to be right beside him before she sat. It wasn't long before he placed his hand on her thigh, eating one-handed while he occasionally rubbed her thigh with the other. They enjoyed the silence and closeness as they ate.

As soon as she began to feel full she placed her fork down and tilted her head down onto his shoulder, taking in his scent as she did so.

"You feeling better, now that you've had time to think?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said quietly.

"I..." she hesitated, not knowing what his reaction would be to further probing, "I know she meant a lot to you."

She felt him nod, listening as he cleared his throat.

"You talk to Ellie in the last couple of days?" he asked.

She could hear the guilt in his voice.

"Yeah. She's...I don't know. She seems to have a lot on her mind."

"I lost it at her, in the bullpen...about the case, and Rule Ten."

The waver in his voice was striking.

"I know," she said softly, intertwining her fingers in his and sitting up straight again to look at him.

"She was right. All this time I thought it was possible to follow that rule...but it isn't. She said I take every case personally too...she's right. We all pretend each case doesn't affect us, but they do, and some more than others."

His voice was rising in volume as he continued.

"Ziver had a whole damn house dedicated to journals documenting her feelings for each one, and I never knew. We all accused her of being some heartless assassin and it turns out she had so much heart she had to find a way to let some of it out."

The break in his voice and the pain in his eyes made her heart strain.

"I—" his horse voice cut off as he swallowed, "I wasn't there for her like I needed to be."

His eyes were glistening, a tear rolling down his cheek. She quickly made to wipe it away and cupped his cheek with her hand.

"Hey," she said softly, coaxing him to look at her. "I've seen the way you treat your team. I've seen the way you handle Ellie and Tim and Nick and Jimmy. I saw the way you were with Abby. You mean something to _each_ one of them," she enunciated, "you are like a father to them."

He swallowed again, looking away from her.

"You wouldn't feel the way you feel if you didn't love them like a father. I _know_ Ziva loved you, and I know she knew you were there for her."

"Then why didn't I know?" he said hoarsely.

Another tear escaped his eyes.

"I just told you, you were like a father to her. Kids keep secrets from their parents sometimes because they don't want them to hurt too. We all have secrets, and some secrets are so deep and so personal that we keep them secure from everyone but ourselves." Her daughter flashed through her mind. "In some cases, maybe we eventually open up to someone we trust. In others, the secret is taken to the grave."

"She just wanted to be strong for you. She wanted to make you proud," Jack finished quietly.

He brushed his hand across his face, silence enveloping them as he gathered himself.

"I burned it," he said.

She stared at him a second, trying to figure out what he meant.

"Burned what?"

"Rule Ten. I tossed it in my fireplace."

"You mean you actually have them all written down?" she asked in shock.

"Most of 'em."

"What? This whole time that I've been trying to memorize some of the ones you or your team mention, you've actually had a trove of them written down somewhere?" she gasped.

He nodded, a smile beginning to appear.

"Why the hell don't you just give everyone the list of them in order to memorize them?"

He chuckled, giving a shrug.

"Shows who cares enough to pay attention an' learn...an' I like watchin' people struggle."

"Your way of weeding out the weak or something?"

"Somethin' like that," he replied with another chuckle.

"Well, in that case, I've failed. You may as well write me off."

"I thought you didn't like my rules? When you first came on and I said one to you, you said you didn't believe in 'absolutes'."

"Yeah, but then everyone kept casually mentioning them like it was some secret code and I realized it may be useful to know some of them. Plus, I started to like you, and that makes people do stupid things sometimes."

He raised his eyebrows at her.

"You just call my rules stupid?"

"You're the one burning them now, not me," she teased, holding her hands up in surrender.

"It was one," he defended, holding up a finger.

"Don't you also have one about being wrong or something? Wouldn't that cancel all of them out?"

" _Sometimes_ you're wrong, not always, just sometimes. That's Rule Fifty-One, if you want to write it down," he mocked, smirking at her.

"I already told you, I don't believe in absolutes," she shot back.

They both just laughed and smiled at each other. She figured she would let the banter end there on a good note, deciding that bringing up his rule about not dating co-workers would spoil the good mood. She just hoped she would be a reason for him to eventually burn that one too, rather than eventually being the reason for that one to be permanently cemented.

They began to clean up the table and then moved to her living room when they were done putting things away, sitting on the couch together.

"Are you not going into work today?" she asked as they settled in.

"Nah. Decided to use some PTO today, thought I could spend your day off with you. Just paperwork to do anyway, the team can handle it."

"Really?" she asked, shocked by the attention and time he was giving her.

He nodded as he stared into her eyes and rubbed his hand up and down her arm, a faint smile gracing his features.

"Is this all because you no longer have a rule against being personally involved?" she quipped.

"You're not a case, Jack, and things between us were 'personally involved' the second you showed up at my door pretendin' to have car trouble," he snorted. "'specially when we started sleepin' together."

She laughed, conceding as she nodded.

She burrowed closer into his side, resting her head on his shoulder as comfortable silence surrounded them.

"You think Ellie'll forgive me?" he questioned out of the blue.

"Of course she will," Jack assured instantly. "Fathers and daughters have bad moments sometimes, but they move on. I'm sure you and Ziva had some rough moments, right?"

He snorted, nodding as he remembered many of their tense encounters. Ziva was more stubborn and openly disagreeable than Ellie, and it was far easier for him and her to butt heads on things.

"I sent Ellie some flowers this mornin' too, and Abby," he shared.

"That's sweet, I'm sure they'll appreciate it."

"Got a card from Abby in the mail, I'll bet you have one too. It was pink and covered in black glitter that got everywhere," he recounted with a grimace.

"That sounds like Abby," Jack said with a laugh, shaking her head.

She looked up at him when she felt eyes on her, seeing him just staring at her.

"What?"

He shook his head and smiled, leaning down to kiss her. He pulled apart and rested his nose in her hair by her ear, where she could feel him inhale deeply. He reached his hand across to her side and tugged on her hip, trying to pull her into his lap. She went along with it and faced him as she sank down over his lap, feeling him hold her face in his hand as he pulled her down to kiss her more thoroughly.

She put a hand on the back of his head, running her fingers through his hair as they explored each others mouths. She pulled apart before she could get too distracted and tapped his nose with a smile as she climbed out of his lap and stood up.

"Where you goin'?" he asked.

"Bedroom," she replied, winking at him.

He smiled and stood up.

"Not for what you are hoping for, though," she added. "I'm just going to get ready."

She almost laughed at the disappointment on his face.

"Get ready for what?"

"A movie I planned to go to today. I'm glad you took the day off because now you can go with me."

He looked apprehensive.

"What's it about?" he asked suspiciously.

"Well, it's a rom-com making fun of other rom-coms. It's called, _Isn't It Romantic_."

He groaned, looking disgusted.

"I've heard it's hilarious. Plus, I'll even buy your ticket and popcorn."

"Jack—"

"Come on, Gibbs, it beats being at the office doing paperwork all day."

He looked like he very much disagreed on that, and opened his mouth again.

"Please? I'd love the company," she asked hopefully, placing her hand on his chest. She knew it wasn't his thing and put him out of his comfort zone, but she really wanted to take advantage of their day together.

He looked down at her hand and then at her, sighing.

"Fine," he relented, smiling back at her when she beamed.

"Us, in a dark cinema together, watching a rom-com," she mused. "Maybe we'll even get to hold hands or share the same drink or something," she whispered conspiratorially. "It's like the highschool dream."

He rolled his eyes, not able to hide his smirk. She turned to head to her room to change.

"But I'm payin' for the tickets and popcorn," he barked after her.

Now she was the one rolling her eyes. She decided to not fight back and let him be stubborn and feel like he was winning something, considering he was being so generous with his time and affection today. He deserved some kind of small victory.

"Just so you know, paying for it all won't get you to second base during the movie," she quipped back.

"I know it won't, that's what we have the rest of the day for," he shot back.

She laughed and closed her door, knowing full well she couldn't argue with that truth.


	6. Silent Service

_A/N: Tag to "Silent Service" (16x17). This was all written during the early morning hours in which I should have been sleeping. I'm going to blame any mistakes or things that don't make sense on my very sleep deprived brain. This is my attempt at fixing the shameful amount of Slibbs we got in this episode. Here is hoping we get some actual and meaningful Slibbs at some point during the rest of this season._

* * *

Jack shut herself in her office, taking a deep breath. She'd been silently holding in her emotions the last two days, trying to remain as professional as possible, trying to let Ducky enjoy his last official days, but now she needed a moment.

When she'd heard the sub had gone radio silent, she couldn't help but be worried for Gibbs and Ellie. What if something really bad was going on? What if they got hurt? What exactly was going on and why? She had barely gotten any sleep that night, not knowing where they were or if they were even safe.

Then, later on the next day, as things got heated and it was looking like they would be sunk forever in order to prevent a war, all she could think of was Gibbs...all the moments they had spent together, the last night she had spent at his house when she woke up in his arms, the last time she'd actually _seen_ and _talked_ to him in more than just a fleeting encounter at work—it's been a while. She couldn't even remember the last thing they'd said to each other, and realized with a wince that is was probably something work related.

She held it all together during that tense ordeal, knowing she needed to be on her game like everyone else, knowing Gibbs would put the case first. Emotions needed to wait. Gibbs and Ellie needed them to help figure things out.

And then, thankfully, the situation was resolved and everything had worked out. Gibbs always did seem to have some magic luck when it came to near-death experiences. She'd gotten word that the sub was resurfacing and that Gibbs and Bishop were safe and coming back. She helped wrap things up and then went to help Vance with Ducky's gift, trying to distract herself from how on edge she felt. Now she was here, taking her moment, because she knew Gibbs and Ellie would be back any minute and she needed some time to collect herself.

She couldn't stop thinking about how she could have lost him. How there were still so many things unsaid between them. How they hadn't spent enough time together and still didn't really know each other, despite the fact that they'd been carrying on their secret relationship for months now.

She couldn't even imagine what she would have done if they had both died on that sub. Ellie was her friend, she considered her to be like a daughter at work. Gibbs was, well, he was her Gibbs.

All she knew is that losing both of them at the same time could have been the final straw. She'd been through too much already. She'd seen too much. She'd already endured enough death of those close to her heart. This would have been the breaking point.

She took a shuddering breath and paced her office. She needed to stop thinking about the "what ifs."

"They're fine. They're both fine," she said to herself as she paced, rubbing her forehead and taking another deep breath.

She paced to the couch and stopped, staring out the window, hugging herself, gripping onto her cross necklace with one hand.

"Jack?"

She turned, surprised at hearing his voice, not realizing that he was even in the building. She didn't even hear him open the door.

"Gibbs," she breathed out quietly, blinking as she took him in.

He closed the door behind him and gave her a small smile.

Her body seemed to move without her even thinking about it, and within a second she had breezed from the couch to the door and was wrapping her arms around him, holding him tight. She closed her eyes as she clung to him, breathing in the calming scent of him that she loved so much, trying to stabilize the emotion she'd been trying to ignore the past 48 hours. She felt his arms wrap around her in turn as he hugged her back. She felt him nuzzle the side of her head, hearing him take in a couple of breaths as his nose rested near her ear.

"You could've died," she whispered.

"We were fine. Everything was fine," he assured as he rubbed his hand up and down her back.

"No, it wasn't fine. It's fine now, but it wasn't then."

He pulled back and cupped her cheek, his lip quirking up as he rubbed his thumb across her cheek.

"You sound just like Ellie."

She laughed and shook her head, feeling suddenly sorry for Ellie that she had to deal with him and his macho, indifferent routine. She looked up at him, taking in the details of his face.

He looked exhausted, but he was alive and healthy looking. She didn't know why she expected him to look any different. She knew he hadn't been involved in a near-death experience that in any way actually physically hurt him, but it was like part of her brain expected him to be bruised up with some bloody cuts or something. Clearly, even though she knew he hadn't been hurt, her brains association with the words "war" and "near-death" didn't quite comprehend not having some kind of physical harm.

She moved a hand to the back of his head and pulled his face to hers, melding her lips with his, trying to channel her feelings for him into it. He pulled her body closer as they deepened it, and she tried to focus on how it felt to kiss him, how it felt to feel his strong body against hers, how it felt to just be with him in a moment of private affection. She wanted to burn it into her mind, knowing she needed to fully appreciate moments like this with him. Today had been an unexpected reminder that life can always throw a curve-ball and be much shorter than you expect.

He pulled apart, and she listened as he caught his breath while she caught hers. She felt his fingers brush up against her neck as he placed his hand there. She placed her hand over his and closed her eyes, enjoying the way his other hand possessively gripped her hip.

"I was worried sick about you," she admitted. "I couldn't remember what the last thing I had even said to you was, or when I'd last kissed you. And I had to put on a straight face and pretend like it wasn't bothering me because there was work that needed to be done and no one even knows—"

"Hey."

She opened her eyes and met his blue ones.

"I was worried too. Ellie needed me to be calm, so I was, but when it came right down to it and that bastard tried to get us all killed—" he shook his head and swallowed, "it was all I could do to not shoot him."

His grip became a little tighter on her hip as he pulled her in even closer, his breath hot against her forehead.

"Thought about you a lot," he said huskily. "Your body, your lips, the way you scream my name. Thought about how much I'd miss you if I died."

She chuckled, shaking her head as his lips placed wet kisses across her forehead.

"You sayin' you only like me for my body, Cowboy?"

"No. I like _you_. All of you, Jack."

She smiled, feeling an indescribable bolt of happiness. She could tell he meant every word. She pulled his lips back to hers and took her time giving him a thorough kiss, as if she was trying to reacquaint their mouths in order to make up for lost time.

"Spend the night at my house?" he asked.

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

They both smiled at each other, and she gave him another slow kiss. She was relieved to have him back and know he was safe, and now that the relief kicked in and she wasn't feeling anxious, she finally realized just how tired she was. She was sure he felt ten times worse than she did. Part of her wished they could just go home together now and get some sleep, but she was also excited to get Ducky's 'goodbye' present underway.

He turned them around and pressed her against the door as they continued to kiss, moving his hand on her hip to grab her butt.

"Maybe spend the weekend with me at my house too?" he mumbled as he brushed his lips down to her neck.

"If you manage to keep yourself from getting killed by then, it's a done deal."

"Deal," he replied, giving a low chuckle, moving his head up to rest his forehead against hers. She brushed her hand through his silver strands, appreciating their closeness for a moment.

"Okay, come on," she said with a sigh, pulling apart from him. "We need to show Ducky the present. He put his plans off for an entire day because he couldn't stand to leave knowing you and Ellie were in a dangerous situation. I think he also really wanted to make sure he got to say goodbye to everyone, and he knew it wouldn't be complete without the whole team."

Gibbs nodded, and she detected a flicker of emotion go through his eyes.

"He's been here since I started. Been through a lot with me," he said gruffly.

"I know," she said gently, squeezing his hand. "He's always had so many good stories about you. He has some pretty good ones about your exes."

He groaned.

"Come on, they're not all bad. I like the one about him having to stitch you up after one of your exes hit you over the head with a golf club. And then the other time when he had to stitch you up again after another ex hit you over the head with a baseball bat."

He groaned again.

"If it's any consolation, I'm not planning to hit you over the head with any sports equipment."

He laughed, shaking his head.

"I'll hold you to that."

She pecked his lips one last time and gave him a wink before she opened the door and led them out, hoping Ducky would accept the offer of being the new NCIS Historian. After all, she knew she hadn't even scratched the surface when it came to Ducky's wealth of knowledge and stories, especially when it came to Gibbs.

* * *

 _Thank you to all of my faithful readers, followers, and reviewers. Also, big shout-out to my dear friends JamJar98 and isles15, who constantly support me and listen to all of my rants._ _I had a tiny nod to JamJar98's Slibbs tag series called "It's Been_ _A_ _While" in the third paragraph. It's definitely_ _one of my very favorites_ _, so go make sure you read and review that one if you haven't yet._


	7. Perennial

_So, "Perennial" was amazing. I loved that we finally got some more scenes between Jack and Gibbs, it's definitely been too long. My emotions were all over the map during this episode. There were so many heart wrenching moments with Jack. This was definitely an episode that warranted a tag, so here we are again._

* * *

Gibbs sighed, moving his hand over the boat, taking fresh sawdust off of it. McGee had left just a little while ago, leaving Gibbs to continue internally worrying about Rule Ten.

He couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to go wrong soon. He felt like parts of his past were going to haunt him. Something just felt off. Rule Ten was created for a reason, and he couldn't shake off the feeling that burning it may have been the wrong choice. Then, he would remember he burned it for a reason. But, was it reason enough?

He shook his head and put his tools down, wiping the dust from his hands off on his pants.

Ellie was freaking him out with her obsession with Ziva. He wasn't sure what was going through her head, and he felt unnerved. His own feelings over Ziva were complicated and unresolved, and he wasn't sure how to help Ellie, or what was driving her in the first place. She never even knew Ziva.

Torres was always all over the map. He frequently made Gibbs shake his head. His situation the other week when he'd been drugged and almost framed for murder had been concerning enough. The kid was definitely struggling with his emotions the last couple of weeks. When he had brought up his 'swan' thing, Gibbs had a flash of Mike Franks. Mike's swan song.

Gibbs took a deep breath, not wanting to dwell on thoughts of all the dead people he knew.

Jack.

God, Jack.

Their confrontation earlier had been their first real one. He couldn't help but feel annoyed that she had never trusted him enough to open up about her biological daughter. He'd started to suspect around Christmas, but she'd evaded him when he tried to probe. He'd let it drop, until one night when they were drinking and she'd actually gotten a little tipsy and had let a few more hints slip. He'd finally gone and done his own research.

It was something he had hoped would eventually come up from her, and he'd remained quiet about his secret knowledge. He didn't want to bring it up and scare her off or make her defensive. He had hoped she would share when she was ready.

But then this case happened, and he felt fired up about everything, and he had thrown it in her face because he was annoyed that despite all their time together she _still_ had never managed to share it with him. He'd told her about his family, he deserved to know about hers.

Despite how annoyed he felt at the moment, the minute he saw her caught off guard about her daughter coming in, the minute he could see the pure emotion flash through her eyes when she said she hadn't seen her daughter since the day she was born—his annoyance had disappeared, because he couldn't stand to see her hurting.

So he had tried to back off and remain calm for the duration of the case. He didn't bring up her keeping the secret from him again. He let her have her space, but also tried to nudge her in the right direction when necessary—like when he pushed for her daughter to do the composite.

When he found out that she had gone to her daughter's home after Faith called, his annoyance flared again, because clearly Sloane was letting it get personal, and she wasn't keeping him updated either. When he went to inform her of the call and pointed out that she had the right idea of recusing herself, and she told him that she couldn't recuse herself and she was in it, he bit back his comments and reigned in his annoyance. Instead, he nodded his head and accepted it, knowing he couldn't say Rule Ten, knowing that he would do the same exact thing if he were in her position.

He thought about their interview with Faith, and how he could see so much of Jack in her daughter. Faith looked so much like Jack, he could pick out so many features in her face that he cherished in Jack's. He could see that she had the same fire and drive that Jack had. It didn't matter that Jack didn't raise her, she still ended up being a lot like her.

He scrubbed his hand down his face.

Everything was so complicated. Everyone was struggling with something. At least he didn't have to worry about Tim or Jimmy or Ducky right now. As he said to Tim, he had his head on straight. He was doing okay, his family was doing okay, and he had come a long way since his probie days. Jimmy was the same. Ducky was very content and settled with life.

He looked up, his thoughts interrupted as he heard the faint sound of his front door open. He doubted it was Tim coming back. Ducky wasn't around. That left either Ellie, Nick, or Jack. He cocked his ear and listened. Light weight, high heels.

Jack.

He looked back at his boat, not sure he had it in him right now. Rule Ten continued to pound in his head. He couldn't shake off the unease he felt about everything. He couldn't shake off the unease he felt about her keeping things from him.

He heard her reach the basement door and then the stairs. He could feel her standing up there, he could feel her gaze on him. He listened as she carefully made her way down the stairs, hearing her pause at the bottom.

"Gibbs?"

It was a hoarse whisper, and it made him look over at her.

"I, uh..." she waved her hand around a little, clearly struggling with her words, avoiding his gaze. He furrowed his eyebrows, taking in her red eyes and flushed face. She clearly had been crying a little while ago. She took in a breath and stuffed her hands in her coat pockets.

"I just talked to Faith," she said quietly, her voice cracking, a tear rolling down her cheek.

His stomach dropped, and he no longer cared that he had been feeling irritated with her. He walked over to her and closed the distance between them. She covered her face with her hand, and he pulled her into his arms, resting one hand on the back of her head and the other on her back. She wrapped her arms around him and pressed her face into his shoulder, losing it.

He felt like his heart was breaking as she shook, sobbing in his arms. He'd never seen her like this before.

"Oh, Jack," he whispered as she cried, holding her tight and rubbing his hand down her back soothingly.

This is why Rule Ten existed, because people got hurt when they got involved.

"Why did I give her up?" she choked out. "Why did I think I could let her go?"

"Because you were being a good mom, because you are a good mom," he soothed.

"I failed. I can't let her go. She knows all about me and she hates me for it. She never wants to see me again and I don't blame her."

"Jack, a good parent never lets go, no matter how much they fail. No matter how much their child may resent them."

"I'm _not_ a good parent," she insisted. "I gave her up the minute she was born and she'll never forgive me for it. I abandoned her."

He lifted her head up so she could look at him. Her nose was running, her face was wet and red with tears. She looked so heartbroken he could hardly stand it.

"You were doing what was best for her. You gave her to a good family that you knew would take care of her better than you could back then. That is love, Jack. She may not know it, she may never understand, but that is love. You were being a good parent."

She took in a shaky breath, another tear rolling down, looking uncertain. He rolled down one of his sleeves over his hand and reached up, wiping her eyes, cheeks, and nose with it, knowing he didn't have any clean handkerchiefs down here. He rolled the sleeve back up his wrist a little and cupped her cheek with his hand, pressing a kiss to her forehead, pulling back to look at her.

"It's gonna be okay," he whispered.

She put her hand over his, giving him a nod as she breathed out.

She put her arms under his, looping them up around his back, resting her hands on the back of his shoulders as she pressed her body against his, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Thank you," she said into his shoulder. "Thank you for being so patient with me the last few days."

He nodded, pressing a kiss to her head, letting his nose linger by her hair. She always smelled good. Comforting.

"I know I should have told you. You deserved to hear it from me. You deserved to call me out," she said.

"Jack?"

She looked up at him.

"I trust you. You have to trust me too," he said seriously.

She swallowed, nodding.

"I know."

He nodded back at her, and she pulled him down, giving him a kiss.

"You still willin' to drink with me and hang out at my house on occasion?" he asked with a smirk.

She rolled her eyes and chuckled, shaking her head before pulling him in for another kiss. She pulled back and looked at him, searching his eyes.

"What's bothering you?" she asked.

"Nothin'," he lied, not wanting to go into Rule Ten with her again. He'd discussed it with her when he burned it. He also didn't want to throw it in her face when she was one of the main reasons that his ex-rule was hanging over his head the last few days.

"Something," she pressed.

He shrugged and pulled away, turning back to the boat.

"Feels like something is off. Feels like somethin' might go wrong soon. Sometimes things work out, sometimes they don't. I just..." he trailed off, throwing a hand out in defeat. "I don't know," he said, shaking his head. "I'm fine. I am. Just worry about people...things...sometimes."

"Gibbs?"

He turned back to look at her, and she stepped up to him and put her hand on his cheek.

"It's gonna be okay."

He smiled, putting his hand over hers, pulling it down and pressing a kiss to the back of her hand. She pulled his face down for another quick kiss and then pulled away, turning to the stairs.

"I'm going to go. I need to get home, take a nap. I need to get some rest."

He grabbed her hand, keeping her from leaving.

"Stay here. Take a nap on my bed," he insisted.

She contemplated him for a second.

"Only if you promise to take a break from your boat and join me."

He smiled.

"I can do that."

"Good. I like feeling your manly arms around me when I go to sleep."

He snorted at her smirk, and she turned and began to head up the stairs.

"I'm going to grab a drink and go to the bathroom. I'll meet you in your room."

"All right. I'll be up in a minute," he responded, watching as she disappeared.

He turned back to his boat, eyeing it for a second.

"Hey."

He turned to see that she had popped her head back through his basement entrance and was looking at him.

"Hm?"

"I forgot to say something."

He lifted an eyebrow in response, waiting.

"Thank you."

She popped back out before he could respond with even so much as a smile. He smiled to himself and rested a hand against his boat, feeling the smooth wood.

He didn't know what the next days, weeks, or months held. He couldn't shake off the feeling in his gut, though.

" _Never get personally involved on a case."_

It was like a whisper in his head that wouldn't go away.

"It's gonna be okay," he muttered to himself, giving the boat a gentle tap. He turned to the stairs, ready to just take a nap with Jack and get his mind off of things.


	8. Hail & Farewell

_Tag to "Hail & Farewell" (16x20). I admit, I loved this episode, and I also really disliked it. I still can't seem to reach a decision on it. It messes with Gibbs' timeline even more, and some of it just seemed off-putting to me. I don't know, ha. Major props to JamJar98 for listening to all of my rants and indecision about it all. Also, part of this was inspired by JamJar's last chapter (Beautifully Broken) in her "It's Been A While" series. I can't seem to get that chapter out of my head, and it definitely had an impact on this, so all credit to her for that._

 _This is shorter than the other tags. To be honest, I feel like I'm running out of ideas for these two that can go along with the episodes and not be completely repetitive. I just need them to actually get together on screen for real now._

* * *

She drove to his house, wanting to talk, wanting to make sure he was okay. His truck wasn't there, and she knew he was probably still at the funeral. So she walked on in and waited, not sure if this was a good idea or not.

He'd already been kind of off last week, and she knew this case had really messed with him. There was no way for him to not be personally involved, and she knew after his constant worry about that ex-rule of his that it was probably grating to him.

She knew this was hard for him, but she wondered if he realized it had an impact on her too. He'd just said to her last week in his basement that he trusted her and she needed to trust him too. Now she questioned how much he actually trusted her. To find out he had— _yet another—_ serious woman in his past.

She'd already had to talk with McGee the other day about Gibbs taking this personally, and him trusting him, and how Gibbs had his own way of dealing with things. She could see all that clearly from an outside perspective, merely an observer. As for herself, she was personally involved with Gibbs, and that made her situation with him a lot more muddled, because she couldn't see clearly when she was in the midst of it.

She probably needed her own shrink.

She heard his truck pull up and took a breath, calming herself. She listened as he turned it off, opened the truck door and then walked up to his front door. She braced herself on the couch as she heard the door swing open.

He peaked his head into the living room and they made eye contact, both being silent. He looked good, she thought, sharp. She got so lost in thought about how attractive he looked that she almost forgot the reason she was here.

"Why ya here, Sloane?"

She almost scoffed at him. So, he was distancing himself. She thought he might. Using her last name that everyone addressed her with at work, instead of his more personal "Jack" nickname. She was here all the time, and he always made it clear she was welcome, and now he was questioning her presence?

She knew she needed to remain calm, and channeled the conversation she had with Tim earlier to help her along. Gibbs may be someone who needed to get there on his own when dealing with things, but as she'd said to Tim, it didn't mean you couldn't help lead him in the right direction.

"You helped me through my stuff last week. Thought I could try and help you this time around," she said with a shrug. He stared at her for a minute longer and then gave a slight shrug, turning to head up his stairs.

She let out a sigh of frustration and then decided to get up and follow him. He had already ascended the stairs by the time she got to them. After she reached the top she went to his room, where he was taking his silk tie off, tossing it onto the bed by the coat and suit jacket he'd already stripped off. He began to undo the top buttons of his shirt, and then turned to glare at her while she stared.

"I'm getting changed," he pointed out.

"I can see that."

He just glared at her some more, his hands halting on one of the middle buttons.

"Don't mind me, it's not like I haven't seen it all before," she said with a smirk.

"Why are you here?" he demanded again.

"I already told you."

"I don't need help. I'm fine. It's over."

"You don't seem fine."

"I was fine before I got home and saw your car parked outside," he snapped.

She felt like she'd been slapped.

"This is exactly why your entire team refused to interrogate you. Because when things get personal, you distance yourself from everyone and try to bite their heads off in the process," she snapped back. "You said last week that you trusted me and that I needed to trust you. I'll forget the fact that you never told me about this ex-fiancee of yours, but you have to work with me a little here, because I am trying to trust you."

"I don't want you to trust me!" he shouted, looking distressed.

She didn't know what to say, her mouth hanging uncertainly as she just looked at him, not sure how to proceed. He gave a deep sigh, looking so hurt.

"She is dead. I loved her, I tried to do what I thought was best for her, and it didn't matter because she ended up in the ground. Just like Shannon. Just like Kelly. Just like Jen, and Kate, and Diane, and everyone else. They all trusted me and they all ended up in a grave." He swallowed, and looked away. "I couldn't save them," he said hoarsely.

"Gibbs," she whispered, stepping forward towards him.

"No, Jack," he said seriously, looking at her as he shook his head and stepped back. "Go home."

"No."

"Damn it, weren't you listening?" he growled. "You can't trust me. You need to stay away from me."

"No," she said firmly, taking a step forward.

"What the hell is it going to take for you to get away from me?" he demanded, glaring viciously at her.

"A hell of a lot more than you telling me to. I care about you, Gibbs. I'm not going to just leave. Not after we've been sleeping together for months. Not now that you're one of the only men I have trusted so intimately that you know some of my darkest secrets and deepest regrets."

"What, you want to end up dead like the rest of them? I don't want that to happen. I don't want you to die just because I love yo—"

He cut off, looking frightened. She was caught off guard by the confession.

"I love you too," she whispered. "Which is exactly why I refuse to leave."

"Jack," he started, getting agitated again.

"No, stop with the martyr act. You don't get to just push me away. I'm not going to die, and even if I were, how would you feel if I did after you pushed me out of your life? Isn't that exactly what happened with Ellen? Wouldn't you rather enjoy the good while it's there, rather than regret not getting to enjoy it later when it's too late?"

He swallowed, flashing back to a call he ignored by his boat the night before 9/11. Then he flashed back to another call, one he'd made several years later, which was never picked up. Not because she was ignoring him, but because she couldn't answer—because she'd died minutes before in that small diner in the desert.

She could see him thinking, see the regret on his face. She worried she had pushed too far. She was even more worried that he would still insist on ending things.

"I don't want you to get hurt. I can't...I can't handle losing someone else," he said hoarsely.

She walked up to him and placed her hand on his cheek.

"I'm not going anywhere," she said softly.

He just stared at her, and she put her hand on the bare skin that his half open shirt revealed. He watched as she popped the next button out, and then the next. She stared at him, waiting for him to make the next move.

He pulled her head towards his, claiming her lips with his, giving in to the comfort she was offering. He felt her tug his belt loose and pull it out, pushing him back towards the bed.

"I'm here for you, as long as you let me be," she whispered.

He fell back on the bed and tugged her down with him, turning them around and crawling on top of her.

He realized in a sudden flash that this was one relationship he didn't want to screw up. He couldn't afford to screw this up. Not when she was everything he wanted and more.

* * *

 _I'm not sure how I feel about this one. *shrugs*_


End file.
